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Politics : Sioux Nation -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Suma who wrote (23447)	6/22/2005 9:34:57 AM
From: T L Comiskey	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 362366

Ossama anyone..?? US spy plane crashes in SW Asia The U-2 flies so high that the pilot is forced to wear a spacesuit A US Air Force U-2 spy plane has crashed in south-west Asia killing the pilot, the US military has said. The crash occurred at 2330 GMT on Tuesday, when the pilot was returning to base after completing a mission. Its cause is not known. A military spokesman said the location of the crash would not be released because of "host nation sensitivity". The U-2 is a high-altitude surveillance aircraft first developed in the Cold War and manned by a single pilot. Regional sensitivities Central Command gave no details of the plane's mission, but said a full investigation would be convened to established the causes of the crash. The specific location is not releasable due to host nation sensitivities US Air Force Capt David W Small "The specific location is not releasable due to host nation sensitivities," US Air Force Capt David W Small, a Central Command spokesman, said. Correspondents say south-west Asia is a phrase often used by the US military to refer to the Middle East. The site of the crash has been secured to ensure the safety of local citizens and the integrity of the site for the investigation team, the statement said. The name of the pilot will not be released until next of kin are informed, but a statement by the military said he was flying a mission in support of Operation Enduring Freedom, the name given to US operations in Afghanistan. "The airmen of the 380th Expeditionary Wing mourn the loss of a true American hero in the service of his country," Col Darryl Burke, the wing's commander, said in a statement. The long, thin plane, with a wing-span of 100 feet (30.5m) is able to cruise at 90,000ft (27,430m) - more than 17 miles (27km) up - so high that the pilot has to wear a spacesuit. Cold War stalwart A U-2 plane crashed near the South Korean capital Seoul in 2003. U-2 pilot Gary Powers was famously shot down in 1960 In that incident the pilot managed to eject safely and suffered only minor injuries. However, three people on the ground were wounded when the plane exploded as it hit a residential area in Hwasong City in Kyonggi province damaging a house and car repair shop. The U-2 was an invaluable US surveillance tool during the Cold War, able to photograph Soviet military facilities and operating in great secrecy out of Adana in Turkey - later renamed the Incirlik airbase. In 1960 a U-2 was shot down by a volley of Soviet surface-to-air missiles. The pilot, Gary Powers, ejected but was captured and held for two years on spying charges. It was also a U-2 that took the photographs of Soviet missiles being put into Cuba in October 1962.